First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies

Research output: Book/ReportBookpeer-review

Abstract

Enables readers to understand of the origins and histories of the first agricultural populations in many different parts of the world

First Farmers examines the origins of food production across the world and documents the expansions of agricultural populations from source regions during the past 12,000 years. It commences with the archaeological records from the multiple homelands of agriculture, and extends into discussions that draw on linguistic and genomic information about the human past.

The text examines the latest evidence and leading theories surrounding the early development of agricultural practices through data drawn from across the anthropological discipline—primarily archaeology, comparative linguistics, and biological anthropology—to present a cohesive history of early farmer migration. Founded on the author's insights from his research into the agricultural prehistory of East and Southeast Asia—one of the best focus areas for the teaching of prehistoric archaeology—this book offers an engaging account of how prehistoric humans settled new landscapes.

The second edition has been thoroughly updated with many new maps and illustrations that reflect the multidisciplinary knowledge of the present day.

Authored by a leading scholar in the field with wide-ranging experience across the fields of anthropology and archaeology, First Farmers includes information on:

●The early farming dispersal hypothesis in current perspective, plus operational considerations regarding the origins and dispersals of agriculture.
●The archaeological evidence for the origins and spreads of agriculture in the Eurasian, African and American continents.
●The histories of the language families that spread with the first farming populations, and the evidence from biological anthropology and ancient DNA that underpins our modern knowledge of these migrations.

Drawing evidence from across the sub-disciplines of anthropology to present a cohesive and exciting analysis of an important subject in the study of human population history, Farmers First is an important work of scholarship and an excellent introduction to multiple methods of anthropological and archaeological inquiry for the beginner student.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationChichester and Hoboken
PublisherWiley-Blackwell
Number of pages326
Edition2
ISBN (Electronic)9781119706373
ISBN (Print)9781119706342, 9781119706359
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2023

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